The present invention was conceived because most height adjustable podiums are either spring loaded or manually adjustable making it impossible for a handicapped or elderly person to adjust a podium for their use. Additionally, most height adjustable podiums are of the swivel type which then require a complex locking or camming mechanism that not only adds to the expense of production for the podiums but also adds to the shipping weight of the unit. Examples of chair base inventions of this type with spring mechanisms can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,351. Mechanical mechanisms for adjustable height tables can be viewed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,714. In this reference, the problems of structural support for an adjustable height table were handled with bracing mechanisms that could be extended. Various other telescoping mechanisms have been addressed in pending published PCT case, International No. WO 00/21414 with the International Publication date of Apr. 20, 2000. None of the references handle the non-swiveling aspects for a podium specifically, without adding weight to the structure, through additional swivel dampening means.
A non-swiveling height adjustable podium comprising a base, a column, a pneumatic cylinder disposed within the column; a receiver tube having a first tube end slidingly disposed over a first end, and a second tube end; a top mount assembly having a right side, a left side, a front side, a speaker side, a top side, a bottom side, a receiver tube engaging means secured to the bottom side for fixedly connecting the receiver tube to the top mount assembly, a top shelf having a sloping portion and a flat portion, and a flat middle shell secured to the top mount assembly; a front panel secured to the front side and said flat portion; a support means having a first part fixed to and extending from a position between the first tube end of the receiver tube and the second end of the receiving tube to a second part secured to the front panel; a left panel secured to the left side and to the front panel; a right panel secured to the right side and the front panel; an actuation means for engaging the pneumatic cylinder; a locking means for locking the podium at a desired height once the pneumatic cylinder is engaged, and a locking pin for arresting swiveling movement of the receiver tube.
The invention and its objects and advantages will become more apparent in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments presented below.